Education work sessions continue this week, making progress on both the Education Plan and Space Summary documents. These are both critical in any school design because they define the types and organization of space necessary to meet educational goals.

HMFH has previously met with Program Coordinators and other leaders, and this week they will be holding discussions with additional educators and staff by department or functional area.

These Department Meetings include:

• Custodians/School Monitors
• Social Workers/Guidance/Nurses
• Administration
• World Language/EL
• PE/Health
• Student Services
• Fine Arts
• Digital Learning
• Special Education

Additionally, the first Space Programming meeting will take place with school leadership. The goal is to begin to determine the types, number, size, and adjacencies of spaces within the building. The discussion will include consideration of the number and type of classrooms needed for a 1,900 student enrollment, the education plan and it’s relationship to the program of spaces, and conversation around the education configuration.

The Andover High School Building Committee will be hosting a public forum to provide information and solicit feedback on a potential Andover High School facility project. The architecture firm HMFH and Building Committee members will give an overview of the facility conditions they look to address, and the process that will be undertaken to develop options for community consideration.

The forum will be held at Memorial Hall Library (3rd floor) on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 7 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Members of the Building Committee are excited for any opportunity to talk with members of the Andover community about the project. We need your feedback! Please send us an email to coordinate a time when we can join you.

We appreciate hearing from Andover PTOs and PACs and are on the agendas at the following schools:

• Shawsheen (November 1st at 6:00 PM)
• Andover High (November 9th at 7:00 PM)
• Doherty (November 15th remote at 7:00 PM to be rescheduled, date TBD)
• Bancroft (November 16th at 7:00 PM)
• High Plan (November 17th at 9:30 AM)
• South School (November 30th at 7:00 PM)

We look forward to talking with you and hearing your feedback on the AHS building project!

Under Massachusetts state law, if building construction cost is estimated to be $1.5 million or greater, a qualified Owners Project Manager (OPM) is required to represent the owner and assume project management responsibilities. An RFP for OPM services was issued by the AHS Building Committee in September 2022. In October, several firms were interviewed and at today’s Building Committee meeting, PMA Consultants was chosen.

PMA has extensive experience in Andover, having been selected through competitive bid processes to provide OPM services for West Elementary & Shawsheen Preschool, Ballardvale Fire Station, and the Robb Senior Center.

PMA is a family-run Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) founded in 1971 and owned by its original founder. PMA has an extensive background in the K-12 school sector with OPM services performed on 58 Massachusetts schools.

Learn more about PMA Consultants on their website, and see a summary of completed school projects they have managed including: Saugus Middle-High School and Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical High School.

Please join the Building Committee at our next public meeting: Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 8:15 AM in the School Committee room (2nd floor of 30 Whittier Court, above the Robb Senior Center).

The meeting agenda is here on the the town website. To have future meeting agendas automatically emailed to you or to receive text messages when an agenda is posted, please sign up through Andover’s Notify Me tool.

This week’s agenda includes: discussion of the process for developing the Education Plan, which will help define the spaces required to meet learning goals; overview of the first Sustainability Charrette and Site Visioning scheduled for this week; and potential vote to affirm selection of an Owner’s Project Manager as the competitive RFP process concludes.

We look forward to seeing you there, but if you cannot attend in person, meetings are recorded by AndoverTV and available in their meeting archive.

Next week is a busy one with HMFH and their consultants beginning a series of meetings with Andover educators and students to determine project goals and requirements for teaching and learning within a new or renovated school. These Educational Visioning and Space Programming discussions will culminate in an Education Plan that helps organize and define school space.

Work is also progressing to determine goals and requirements for the building and site. Discussions are taking place among stakeholders at Sustainability and Site Visioning Charrettes.

We are looking forward to these upcoming meetings:

• Educational Visioning with APS Program Coordinators on Monday, October 17th at 11:00 AM
• Sustainability Charrette #1 with community members, including those on environmental committees, on Monday, October 17th at 2:00 PM
• Site Visioning Charrette with members of the community and town/school staff including AHS and WHMS administration, AHS athletics, Andover Recreation, food services, transportation, conservation, and public safety on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 12:30 PM

Stop by the school facility project tent at Andover Day on Saturday, September 24th. We will be on Main Street in the vicinity of Caffe Nero.

Available for conversation will be members of the AHS Building Committee, members of the West Elementary Building Committee, School Committee members, Superintendent Parvey, Principal Brown, and others on the administrative team. We look forward to talking with you!